<p>could anybody tell me what they think of Sarah Lawrence, Wellesley, Macalester, Denison and St. Johns. I want to major in English Lit, and possibly look into their creative writing programs as well. I want more info on these colleges before I start making any application decisions. Sarah Lawrence and Wellesley are my top 2 choices as of now.</p>
<p>Denison and Sarah Lawrence are polar opposites in terms of student body and feel. In fact, Denison stands out in your list as being very different than the others. They do have a good English department but students tend to be on the preppy side in comparison to the other schools on your list. You might want to look at Oberlin and Kenyon in Ohio - both have excellent English programs.</p>
<p>Have you visited any of these schools? That might help you decide on which are best fits for you.</p>
<p>By St. John's, do you mean the one in Maryland/Santa Fe that has the great books curriculum? If so, I assume you know you will be taking a very strict curriculum there with no major per se --- but I personally think that could be a great background for someone interested in writing, just know that you won't be taking creative writing classes there!</p>
<p>I agree with carolyn; these schools have nothing in common!</p>
<p>What are your wish list items?</p>
<p>Ditto Carolyn and SBmom -- for English lit, look also at Middlebury and Connecticut College. Sarah Lawrence could qualify for what you want, but you need to visit the campus to see if it suits you.</p>
<p>Sarah Lawrence has a bad reputation -spoiled rich kids</p>
<p>All of the LACs have good English lit. programs - the profs. all come from the same pool, and the students pretty much the same. But the same is NOT true of creative writing programs. There, your best bet is to look at individual faculty.</p>
<p>I have no doubt that, for creative writing, the best faculty on the east coast, including all of the Ivies, is at Bard, hands down (it's kind of hard to beat Bellow, Achebe, Ashberry, just for starters.) Mount Holyoke has Sven Birkett and Mary Jo Salter. Smith has the Smith Poetry Center, which is the center for poets/writers in the 5-colleges, and attracts the best writers in the northeast on a regular basis. Vassar also has a good rep.</p>